Changing History
by phantomlistener
Summary: After leaving the Doctor behind, Tegan meets a stranger down by the river.  Spoilers in the Author's Note, by implication for one line in SJA's "The Death of the Doctor", and for the Big Finish audio "The Gathering".


A/N: It was strongly implied in "The Death of the Doctor" that a dying Tenth Doctor visited or looked up his former companions. Add to that the fact that Tegan is stated to be alive when she supposedly had a terminal tumour in Big Finish's "The Gathering" and...well...this came from there.

* * *

Tegan's legs take her out of the warehouse and on to the wet streets before her mind even has a chance to process the movement. It's not raining, but the pavement is sodden and her heels click wetly against the paving slabs, and it feels for all the world as if a part of her has been torn out and left to die with her innocence on the floor of that warehouse. She stumbles on, retracing her previous path down to the river, and doing her utmost to fight the fierce wave of regret and pain that is washing over her.

She's strong, she reminds herself - strong in her own right, and she certainly doesn't need the Doctor to validate that. She might even be better off out of their tempestuous relationship. After all, they seemed to do nothing but lash out at one another in vicious arguments, and even their truces were fraught with tension. No wonder she feels angry. But her anger is tempered by sadness and she squashes it down until all that remains is a hard, bitter lump in her throat, determined not to cry.

The cold bites in to her exposed arms and legs but she ignores the discomfort. It's nothing compared to the amount of people who have died today, and nothing compared to the odd hollow feeling she's held in her heart since she watched the TARDIS leave without her.

The river, when she reaches it, is dull and murky, flowing slowly between its banks. For a moment she stands still, half-hoping to hear the noise of the TARDIS reappearing behind her, but there is only silence and she knows, deep down, that even if the Doctor did come back she couldn't go with him. Her farewell, unsatisfactory and sudden as it had been, had nonetheless been heartfelt.

Too many people have died, and she's not sure she can stand another moment of involvement.

When she eventually cries, she leans on the railings above the river and lets the cold wind chill her tears until there are tracks of ice winding their way down her cheeks.

"Excuse me?"

There's a voice behind her and she turns unwillingly, suspicious. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry," the man says, running one hand through spiky hair. "I don't mean to intrude, but this really isn't the safest place to be right now. In fact, if I had to elaborate, I'd say it was one of the unsafest unsafe places around at this particular moment in time."

"Tell me about it."

She's about to turn back to the water when he touches her arm and says softly, "It will get better."

"The hell it will," she snaps angrily. "What would you know about it?"

"I recognise your expression. Loss. Betrayal. Disillusionment." He eyes her warily. "I'd say you've had an eventful day."

It's on the tip of her tongue to unleash the full force of her anger on him but for some reason she hesitates. He's an odd-looking man, all sharp angles and pinstripes, but there's a softness in her eyes; a softness she remembers from Nyssa's eyes, and sometimes from the Doctor's, but that has been worn away from hers to leave what she is sure must be visible steel.

"Maybe you do know," she allows, "but I certainly don't need any advice from strangers."

"Of course you don't," the man says. And then he grins, and it lights up his whole face. "You're the independent type. But you have got to listen to me when I tell you that you have ten minutes to get as far as you possibly can from this place. The explosion sent a backwash of energy down the corridor in the warehouse and it's going to release a short-range, high-energy electromagnetic wave that will do all sorts of very bad things to your brain. And believe me when I say that you're going to want to be out of the way of this one."

She feels as if she needs to breathe for him. "What-"

"For once, Tegan, don't argue with me. Just go."

In her moment of incomprehension - _he knows her name! _- he touches her arm and walks away, disappearing around a corner before she even has a chance to react.

And then, feeling oddly reassured, she starts to run.


End file.
